


What's a Soulmate to a Nonbeliever?

by cgee



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-23 06:31:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12501004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cgee/pseuds/cgee
Summary: Chidi and Eleanor can't stop getting into lover's quarrels- erm, totally platonic arguments. Chidi leaves, Eleanor cleans, and they both consider the implication that maybe Mindy- not Michael or Vicky- is the one pulling the strings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm clearly Eleanor/Chidi trash, so here's another fic! Probably will be multi-chap just to break up chunks of the story, but don't expect a long wait since it's all pre-written. This is happening in the current timeline, so Eleanor obviously still has the tape, because #TeamTape, am I right? As always, I own nothing.

Eleanor isn’t sure why she and Chidi have taken to bickering lately. Sure, she  _ may _ just be able to chalk it up to her inherent immaturity combined with stubbornness and learned selfishness (though getting more  _ unlearned _ day by day, thank god), but she refuses to believe she’s the only one to blame here. 

“More lessons, teach?” She asks innocently enough on a random afternoon once Michael, Tahani, and Jason have left.

Chidi crosses his arms. “Eleanor, I know you used to have a certain knack for paying literally  _ no _ attention. A talent, really-”

“Said they missed the old El, girl don’t tempt me,” Eleanor cuts in, smirking.

Chidi ignores this. “But you’ve definitely been showing improvement. Enough to at least notice when the lesson is  _ over _ .”

“Look,” Eleanor rolls her eyes as if a reasonable person should’ve done these mental gymnastics sooner. “I may not be your hottest friend, or your nicest. But I can at least be the most almost-ethical.”

“Why?” He cocks his head at her.

She doesn’t know, but she thinks it probably has something to do with a stupid tape starting with C and ending in anonball Run 2 that’s burning a hole through one of her dresser drawers.

“Dunno, Cheedster,” she shrugs, sighing with exasperation.

“O-kay then,” he simply nods, turning his blackboard back around. “I’m gonna head out, then.”

“You’re really not gonna help me?” 

Chidi thinks she looks kind of like a helpless puppy now. He almost relents- famous philosophers didn’t have much written regarding the lure of puppies, so he's on his own- but decides he should probably stand his ground.

“I’ve  _ been _ helping you,” he sighs. “All of you. Sometimes I just need some space.”

Eleanor feels something vaguely painful in a part of her body. 

“Right, right,” she shakes her head. “Like reading some poetry on a boat or something.”

The feeling she had before now changes to something resembling deja vu.

“Exactly!” Chidi throws his hands up. “Wait, how did you know?”

“Face it, Chidi,” she shrugs. “I know you, probably better than anyone here.”

He wants to call her out on her hubris until he realizes she’s basically right. Suddenly he feels a bit sick.

“Well, I’m just gonna…” he gestures toward the door.

“I kinda figured,” she’s standing now, sliding her hands into her pockets to maintain her guise of airiness. “Later.”

He waves, then leaves.

The second the door closes, her face breaks into a  mischievous smile- not unlike every time she found a loophole in the DD strategy ( _"it's office policy,"_ her coworkers always whined as she just scoffed after tequila shot #3).

“Janet,” she looks satisfied with herself and she hasn’t even done anything yet.

“Hello!” Janet enters the room with a pop.

“I’m gonna need a rowboat and some weird-ash, boring French poetry,” her smile has somehow gotten even wider now.

A few seconds later, the two asks are sitting in her living room.

“Ok, yep, too literal,” Eleanor nods. “Bring them to the dock in the lake. And bring Chidi there after you’re done!”

She feels like she’s been in a loop like this a lot lately- reach a weird point of tension with Chidi, feel bad about it, then do some gesture (most usually just involve suggesting they take a break and get froyo...other times they apparently include ordering a rowboat) to make up for it. She figures that it’s probably not how  _ mature, reasonable adults _ solve their problems. But until she’s ready to confront the damn antique in her dresser drawer, this is as good as it’s gonna get.

 


	2. Chapter 2

They’re on a break a few days later ( _"Can't believe the teacher let us go off campus for recess,"_ Eleanor always quips, and Chidi always laughs, despite the fact that she says it literally _every time_ ), and Chidi’s still going on about how he’ll never be able to repay her for the rowboat gesture- even if he had no idea how to actually  _ row _ it (minor deets). She tries to remind him that  _ literally _ he cannot “repay” her, because money isn’t a thing, and if it was, she definitely would  _ not _ have been able to afford a boat, not even a janky rowboat. Plus she’s tired of feigning offense at his “assumption that she did it solely for something in return” (she knows he doesn’t really think that, though it’s  _ TOTALLY _ something Old Eleanor would do).

So she changes the subject to something she knows will captivate him for hours, maybe even days, or however this place counts time.

“Whaddya think the real Good Place is like?” She asks all casually, the way one would ask  _ “what are you wearing to this thing tonight?”  _ or  _ “how do you take your coffee?” _

Suddenly Chidi is in full-on Nerd Mode ™, even more so than when he teaches, and Eleanor is silently thankful for the opportunity to just listen to him nerd out and watch his expressions, gesticulations, and so on without having to say a word herself.

_ Such a creep _ , she rolls her eyes at herself, but doesn’t deny that she does it. Hey, she’s learning to be self-aware, okay?

She’s shaken out of her reverie around his fourth or fifth minute of hypothesizing about the Good Place- it’s a new record for her, it usually takes like eleven minutes, minimum.

“Plus, I mean, what about the concept of a  _ real _ soulmate?” Chidi is gushing now- that’s literally the only way to put it.

And suddenly, Eleanor’s face falls and this is no longer fun. She silently scolds herself for choosing  _ this _ point to tune back into the conversation.

“Seriously, Chidi?” She scoffs. “The soulmate thing? Still?”

“What?” He asks, a(n understandably) defensive edge to his voice.

“That shirt is not real.” She sounds just like when she told her 5-year-old cousin the same about Santa growing up.

“Ever the pessimist,” Chidi rolls his eyes, but his tone is much less sure than before.

“Look,” she sighed. “I know what Michael may have told us, but newsflash- despite how good of a job you’ve been doing on him- Michael’s still a  _ big forking liar _ .”

“Why are you so adamantly against this even being a possibility?” Chidi’s volume is rising now, and Eleanor knows that their confrontation is inevitable, despite it being the main thing she was trying to avoid.

And why  _ was _ she, after all? She thinks she might know, but knowing for sure would require a VCR, and she’s not ready to confront.... _ that thing _ yet. 

“Because it’s just....ridiculous!” She’s spluttering now. “They’re just  _ not _ real.”

Under the guise of calmness, Chidi stands up, carefully placing his hands on the table in front of him and taking a deep breath.

“I’m going for a walk,” he says as evenly as he can muster.

Eleanor mutters, throwing her head back dramatically. He had been so excited! Talking about the Good Place! And their potential futures of  _ goodness _ if Michael did indeed turn out to not be a conniving (literal) demon. And it had all come crashing down, like it always did lately.

Deducing that she should not wait up, she heads back home, shamelessly wallowing.

She’s an hour into rage-cleaning (yeah, she doesn’t know how the fork that became a thing, either) when an idea pops into her head as succinctly as if a lightbulb had appeared over it. 

“Michael,” she glowers, narrowing her eyes and dropping the pan she was laboriously scrubbing with a thud.

Minutes later she’s stomping into his office where he’s nervously dusting his trinkets- though doing a bizarre job, because she assumes demons never really had the need to learn to clean.

“Mikey, my man,” she greets, all business.

“Yes, Eleanor?” He’s clearly on edge, but Eleanor has neither patience nor sympathy for it.

“Why are you still torturing us?!” She demands, getting to the point.

“Pardon?” He shuffles a few steps away from her, looking genuinely taken aback.

“Blah, blah,” she waves her hand. “Save it- there’s no Oscars for demons.”

“Actually-” he holds a finger up, ready to correct her, but she’s having none of it.

“Answer the question, devil dog,” she barks.

“Eleanor,” Michael sighs. “I have literally no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You got all that  _ soulmate _ bullshirt into Chidi’s head so we would argue about it, therefore torturing one another. Or just me,” she considers. “Maybe it’s not torture to him if we’re arguing…”

Michael laughs, not the full-blown, maniacal one, but pretty damn close.

“Oh god, are you about to erase my memories again?” Eleanor doesn’t even sound concerned, just exasperated in a  _ forking-fine-just-get-it-over-with-already _ way.

He’s still laughing, which just makes the scowl deepen on Eleanor’s face.

“I literally didn’t do  _ anything _ ,” he admits. “Unfortunately- because it would actually be an amazing strategy. But no, none of my handiwork. However, I think I can put my finger on just what the  _ real _ reasoning may be.”

He’s looking at her with an accusation plainly on his face. Sometimes she wonders if it should be unsettling just how easily she’s able to maintain eye contact with an actual demon. 

He continues, because he’s Michael and god forbid his commentary go untold. 

“I mean,  _ why _ do you think it bothers you that Chidi believes in soulmates?”

“It doesn’t  _ bother _ me,” she groans. “It’s just, he’s  _ smarter _ than all that shirt. He’s a freaking  _ ethics _ professor, for god’s sake.”

Sometimes she prefers saying “freaking” rather than being autocorrected into “forking”- makes her feel more in control.

“But why does it matter to you?” Michael counters. “What’s wrong with the idea of Chidi going to the actual Good Place and meeting his  _ real _ soulmate?”

Michael is smirking now, and Eleanor is hating it. She doesn’t dignify anything that he says with a response, because of course she’s picking up the forking  _ anvil _ -sized implication that he’s putting down. She simply huffs and storms out of the office, same way she entered.

It takes her another few hours of rage-cleaning to realize that Chidi’s not back.  _ Mildly concerning _ , she thinks, countering the other part of her that finds it  _ aggressively concerning _ . 

After about fifteen failed attempts to summon Janet, she instead calls on Tahani and Jason.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is me not quitting while I'm ahead. I'll probably end up just posting all chapters tonight!

Chidi wasn’t sure what he was getting himself into when he called Janet and asked for the train, but then again, he was literally never _sure_ of anything. Except for that whole _not-cutting-Eleanor-up-to-harvest-her-organs_ thing. That he was pretty sure of, like, right away. Whatever, he was squeamish (at least that was his reasoning after the fact, not that anyone asked...but just in case they ever did).

He sighs, staring out the train windows into literal nothingness as the nonexistant sights pass him. The ride is silent, no small talk from Janet, and in that moment he’s jealous of Eleanor’s ability to maintain a personable conversation with nearly anyone, including a brick wall. He shakes the thought from his head- he’s mad at her, remember?

Soon enough, they’re at Mindy’s, and Janet’s awkwardly lingering there in her very _Janet_ way, and Mindy isn’t as surprised to see him as she is exasperated.

“Hey Thing 2,” she greets casually. “Where’s Thing 1?”

“I’m sorry?” He squints at her.

“I mean, the ‘ol ball-and-chain?” Mindy teases. “Where she at?”

“Where’s who at? Do you- are you referring to Eleanor?” He rolls his eyes.

“Um, duh,” she shakes her head, then perks up. “What’s the deal? Where is she? Is she still outside lugging cocaine so heavy that it’s caused her to lag behind?”

“Uh, no,” Chidi purses his lips as Mindy’s face falls. “Sorry for the intrusion, I just came here to, um, clear my head.”

“Welp,” Mindy slaps her hands against either armrest of her chair, pushing herself up. “Unfortunately for you, the Middle Place and I are pretty much a package deal. So spill, bucko.”

Chidi sighs deeply. “And nothing will get me off the hook for this?”

“Not unless it starts with C and ends with ocaine,” she smiles.

He shakes his head. “Fine. It’s just Eleanor, she’s...she’s infuriating!”

“Ooh, you’re the one complaining now, that’s new,” she perks up with a single eyebrow raised.

“All we do is argue lately, but today! Today was the last straw,” he crosses his arms over his chest to seem stern, not that Mindy cares.

She simply holds a hand out as a signal for him to elaborate.

“It’s just this _soulmates_ thing,” he continues, not even noticing just how much higher Mindy’s single raised eyebrow gets. “She’s just _so adamant_ that they don’t exist, even in the actual Good Place. So adamant to crush my hopes of finding someone.”

“Hoooo boy,” Mindy purses her lips, only now realizing the reality of the situation.

She’d assumed that once Eleanor and Chidi left the last time they’d resumed one of their 800-or-so relationships. She’s clearly wrong. Poor sap.

“What?!”

“So you seem to, uh, care a whole lot about this soulmate thing, eh?”

“Of course! Wouldn’t anyone?” Chidi starts. “I mean, I guess not Eleanor, but then again she’s-”

He trails off when he realizes he’s ranting again, and Mindy is just looking at him, smug as ever.

“Hey bud, you seem a little exhausted. How about you lie down in the guest room, okay?”

Chidi nods dumbly, following the general direction that she’s pointing and making himself somewhat comfortable on the aggressively mediocre bed.

 

* * *

 

He comes back out hours later, seeking water and getting distracted by sound from the television.

“Mindy are you seriously watching…” He starts, then is taken aback by the figures on the screen. “What the _Bad Place_ is that?”

He cleans his glasses on his shirt- as though they make a difference in the afterlife- and places them back on his face in horror.

“Oh, wow,” Mindy’s lips are in a thin line, though she’d be lying if she said she’s not amused. “Eleanor seriously didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me _what_ exactly?”

She simply gestures toward the TV (after readjusting her skirt) and fast-forwards a bit, pressing play without a word.

The scene plays out just as Eleanor had seen it however many weeks ago (seriously, _how_ does time work there?). Chidi is silent for a few moments.

“H-how did...what even? Just... _what_?!” He’s spluttering.

“Sorry, I assumed she showed you when she swiped one of my copies,” Mindy shrugs as if she hasn’t just dropped an enormous emotional bomb on Chidi- in her defense, she’s never felt emotions as strongly as when she was a coke-fiend, so all she really ever feels now is horny.

“Eleanor _knows_ about this?!”

Chidi’s pacing now.

“Uh, yeah,” Mindy’s a little annoyed now, probably because some variation of this conversation isn’t new for them, plus it was _way_ funnier with Eleanor. With Chidi she just...actually feels kinda bad.

“How many times…?”

“You only said _that stuff_ once, which is what I’m assuming you’re asking about,” she rolls her eyes. “Look, Chidi. I don’t know what Eleanor’s deal is with the whole soulmate thing. Word on the street is that people in her life royally let her down. But you, on the other hand, what could you possibly be looking for that isn’t someone you’ve had your brain erased with and yet _still_ found your way back to multiple times?”

From anyone else, it would sound like tender advice, but Mindy just sounds exasperated.

Chidi’s face is a unique mix of wonder and nausea.

“Can I ask you a question, Chidi?”

He simply gestures for her to continue. Words are hard now that his stomach is quaking.

“What did you come here for?” Mindy cocks her head at him.

“I told you- I needed some space to think,” he sighs.

“It just seems _unlike_ you. To just up and leave. To run when the going gets tough. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m no stranger to bad coping mechanisms,” she laughs. “But you...you’re different.”

Chidi just feels sicker.

“I think I should, um, go now,” Chidi nods nervously, quietly summoning Janet.

“Thank god,” Mindy mutters under her breath as she watches him and Janet grow smaller in the distance.

“Now, where was I?” She smirks, rewinding back to the earlier half of the tape.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not knowing where to cut off a chapter strikes again, so here's the ending! As always, reviews are (*Jason voice*) dope.

The train ride back is as silent as the first, but it’s a different silence this time. It pulls back into the Bad Place with no fanfare or excitement, no Eleanor there to greet him-  _ not that she would be _ , he reasons, since not only did they fight enough for him to have a semi-tantrum, she didn’t even know where he went.

“She probably hasn’t even noticed,” he sighs to himself on the short walk home.

He walks into Eleanor’s- well, technically _their_ \- place to find that it’s empty. And seriously spotless. After the initial disappointment at Eleanor’s absence, he’s dumbfounded by the cleanliness of the place. Thing have been dusted, the dishes are all cleaned, laundry is done (even  _ his _ ), and everything is neatly arranged. He raises an eyebrow in suspicion.

“Janet,” he calls, not without apprehension in his voice.

“Yes Chidi?” She doesn’t miss a beat.

He gulps. “Is there, um, another  _ you _ who takes over when you go to the Medium Place. Who helps with, say, menial tasks?”

“Nope,” she confirms cheerfully. “There is most certainly not.”

“Right,” Chidi nods. “Welp, thanks.”

She disappears. In spite of himself, a small smile grows on his face.

He’s appraising the place when he hears commotion coming from the door, and soon enough Eleanor is bursting through it with Tahani and Jason following close behind.

“Okay, look,” Eleanor clasps her hands together, nodding at the two of them. “We take a break for thirty minutes,  _ tops _ , then we get back to the lake and resume our efforts! That’s gotta be enough time for lame-o Gunnar to  _ ‘rest his muscles _ .’”

“I mean, you can’t really  _ blame _ him Eleanor,” Tahani tries to reason. “We’ve been on this Find Chidi mission for hours.”

“These townspeople are literal demons. They don’t get tired,” Eleanor dismisses her argument, scrunching her face together before turning her attention to Jason. “Hey, bud, are you even listening to me?!”

He’s looking right past her.

“Hey, Chidi!” Jason calls out with his textbook Jason excitement. “Look, guys, I found Chidi!”

Eleanor slowly turns on her heel, pursing her lips.

“You were looking for me?” The smugness in his tone is apparent, but it’s mostly overpowered by genuine sincerity.

“Well, I think it’s time to go, Jason,” Tahani grasps for Jason’s sleeve, dragging him out the door behind her. “Bye, all!”

Neither Eleanor nor Chidi acknowledge their exit.

“I mean, yeah, duh,” Eleanor shrugs as if it’s totally  _ no big deal _ . “I thought you got stranded in the lake in that freaking rowboat again. Seriously that lake is  _ boundless _ .”

Chidi chuckles. The sound tickles Eleanor’s ears.

“Um, no,” he looks down at his hands, suddenly feeling sheepish. “After our...fight, I went to the Medium Place. To Mindy’s.”

“Mindy’s?!” Eleanor looks at him suspiciously. “I mean, dude, I know we all have our moments and she  _ does _ have a great rack, but there’s genuinely amazing porn here that I’d most definitely recommend first.”

“What? I wasn’t...I didn’t- what?!”

Eleanor puts both hands up in front of her. “Hey man, idunno.”

“No, Eleanor,” Chidi stops to glare at her (oh yeah, and he’s pacing now, because  _ of course _ he is). “I just went to think. Clear my head.”

“And did you?” She’s crossing her arms now, her favorite pastime when she feels vulnerable.

“Um yes and...mostly no,” Chidi admits, still pacing.

“Gonna burn a hole in that thing, buddy,” Eleanor gestures down at the rug he’s pacing on.

Chidi can tell the irritability and tension is rising between them, and if it’s anything like any other day, he knows how it’ll end- in another fight. Which is exactly what he’s trying to avoid. So instead of supplying his own quip in return, he simply stops his pacing altogether. He swore to himself this conversation would be different.

“About the whole soulmate thing,” Chidi starts after a deep breath.

Eleanor’s eyes widen. “Ah, no. Look dude, believe in whatever you want. I’m not trying to, like, crush your little nerd dreams. Seriously. The soulmate thing sounds…..kinda nice.”

“I mean,” Chidi shrugs. “We technically don’t even  _ belong _ in the Good Place, anyway. Who am I to assume there’ll just be a soulmate waiting for me if we  _ hijack _ our way in?”

Eleanor blinks. “On earth, an old boyfriend and I used to play this game called  _ Explain Like I’m Five _ \- it made him feel smart. In this instance, please, do that.”

Chidi ignores this.

“Also Mindy showed me, um, a tape,” Chidi’s face reddens involuntarily.

“Oh fork,” Eleanor clenches a fist at her side as her eyes somehow get even wider.

Chidi takes a few steps closer. It does nothing to ease Eleanor’s panic.

“Eleanor, why didn’t you tell me?”

“What?” Eleanor’s laugh is dry. “That a horny pervert recorded some version of us having sex and saying some things through a peephole in purgatory?”

“Okay,” Chidi nodded. “When you put it like that it does sound a bit...outlandish. But Eleanor, whatever it is- we can always work through it...together.”

He uses her name often when he talks. She’s found that it both calms her down and makes her heart want to bust out of her chest and drive off a cliff. So, probably just like Mindy’s heart on a good day on earth.

She wasn’t sure when he grasped her hand, but he’s holding it now and she’s suddenly feeling like 10,000 worms- and also lightning bolts??- are squirming beneath her skin.

“Look, Cheeds. You don’t have to get all  _ introspective _ just because of this retro piece of plastic,” she likes to think she’s good at acting unaffected (Chidi seems to disagree).

“That’s...that’s not it,”  _ this is it, Chidi,  _ he thinks.

Eleanor just looks down at their hands then blinks back up at him. He’s silent for another few moments.

“Well, out with it, we’re not getting any younger- or less dead!”

And there’s the Eleanor he knows...and  _ loves _ ? (He’s still working that part out.)

“I mean, say I am lucky enough to get a soulmate in the Good Place,” Chidi gulps. “Would I really want to pair off with some  _ random person _ when there’s a person I’ve been through essentially 800 different universes with right here?”

“Random  _ amazing _ person,” Eleanor corrects, because she doesn’t want to believe what she’s hearing is real, because part of her still can’t shake her learned experience that  _ emotions are gross _ .

Chidi just rolls his eyes in exasperation.

“That’s it?!” He cries out at her response. “That’s all you have to say about this?”

Eleanor takes one step closer to him, so she actually has to look up to see into his eyes. 

“I wasn’t done,” her tone is softer now.

“Um, the floor is yours,” Chidi is laughing nervously.

“I didn’t want you to see the tape because I didn’t want it to...coerce you into thinking you need to feel a certain way, or something. I know you suck at guilt,” Eleanor shakes her head. “I didn’t mind keeping it to myself because at least I had evidence that there was a time my feelings hadn’t  _ totally _ been one-sided.”

“Wait, what?” Chidi shakes his head lightly.

Eleanor groans. For a professor, Chidi can be extremely clueless regarding literally anything that isn’t directly related to philosophy or ethics.

“I love you, you clown!” She yells.

Her voice is shrill, exasperated, and honestly devoid of nearly any tenderness. So in Eleanor language, it’s about as sincere as it gets. 

“Wait, is that directed toward me? Or to one of those?” He’s using the hand not clasping hers to point past her at the clown nook.

He’s been meaning to try and make her laugh more. It strikes him that this probably wasn’t the best time to test his material.

“Oh my god,” she groans, but the ghost of a smile is playing on her lips now. “Shut  _ up _ already.”

And before Chidi can react, her mouth is on top of his and it feels like warmth and  _ home _ and the exact opposite of  _ eternal damnation _ but there’s also passion and urgency. It goes on like this for about a minute- because damn, Chidi can  _ kiss _ \- until Eleanor feels Chidi’s hands on each of her shoulders as he softly detaches their lips. Her face falls momentarily as the inevitable feeling of rejection starts to creep in, but he simply leans his forehead against hers.

“Eleanor,” Chidi’s smile is enormous, like a kid on Christmas who grew up in a household very much unlike Eleanor’s, or an excited puppy, or something equally wholesome and enthusiastic. “I love you, too.”

She’s nearly rendered breathless by the genuine  _ conviction _ in his voice threatening to turn her knees to jelly. But, being herself, she refuses to let him get the last word of this conversation.

“Good,” she breathes out, their noses nearly touching. “Because if you  _ do _ have a soulmate in the Good Place, I’m gonna fight that bench.”


End file.
